


The Sounds You Hear in the Dark

by Nope_Rope



Series: Fragile is My Mind Alone [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: (out of tone kazoo plays in the background), All the original characters are hallucinations, Delusions, Flashbacks, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt Varian (Disney), I decided to rate it teen because it sure ain't for kids!, I hate writing in 1st person, I read On the Run by ZoneRobotnik and it inspired this, I think it's 'disassociation', I'm sorry my son, Isolation, It's a mental breakdown!!!, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychosis, READ THE WHOLE SUMMARY YA’LL, Rapunzel is a better friend than she was in canon, Self-Destruction, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Varian is an unreliable narrator sometimes, all that time alone with basically a corpse had to be bad for him, because the sudden switches to third person turned it into an out of body experience/diassociation, but i had to, but in the "I'm not giving up on you" way, but that should be quick, he is not okay, how do you even spell that?, more tags will be added as i update, not the "I'll check up on you" way, one of my better fics, that’s important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nope_Rope/pseuds/Nope_Rope
Summary: Varian had been stuck in this house, isolated from all other human beings, for 2 months. And when you're alone for that long, especially after a traumatic, life-changing event, you tend to start...seeing things.Varian's broken mind wants to avoid his broken life by replacing it with a broken reality so much more twisted and sinister than the one he's trying to escape.Even the most mentally strong of adults wouldn't survive what Varian's been through. What would Varian's mind look like in real life, under these circumstances?For those who’ve never had a psychotic episode, if Varian’s POV starts to seem hazy and random but he doesn’t acknowledge that it makes no sense, it’s because everything is in a state of unreality. It’s like a dream where you just kinda go along with it. Those unicorns playing football? Mmm, yes, makes sense. Eating your fingers will save your family from being eaten by the flying face? A perfectly logical and realistic plan. This is all based on my personal experience. This is kind of me imprinting on my son. Also, all of this is in first person, even if they seem like they’ve switched to third person.
Relationships: Rapunzel & Varian (Disney), Varian (Disney) & Original Character(s)
Series: Fragile is My Mind Alone [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205522
Comments: 46
Kudos: 37





	1. The Whispering Walls

**Author's Note:**

> Varian has an epiphany.
> 
> And a mental breakdown.
> 
> (This is about a month after the storm. I'm assuming he was alone for about 2 months before contacting Rapunzel and trying to steal the sundrop)

The walls were whispering again. “Hey Nina, could you tell them to stop?” I yelled to the shadow standing in my peripheral vision as I screwed a screw in for the 8th time. For some reason everytime I finished it, I’d blink for a second and suddenly it would be in my hand again.

Nina stared at me silently, but I knew what she was saying. We had our own way of communicating. “Fine, I’ll do it,” I said with exhaustion, yawning as I got up. Weird, didn’t even realize I was tired. What time was it? Matter of fact, what day was it? When was the last time I slept? “Does it really matter?” Fred whispered in my ear like a silent threat “you should focus on freeing your father, not something as trivial as sleep.”

“You’re right,” I said with determination “he needs me.” Fred hummed with satisfaction. “That’s a good boy,” he purred in his typical, slightly creepy manner. “But first I got to tell the walls to shut up,“ I declared, and started marching over to the wall.

As per usual, the second I took a step, I was suddenly there. I was a bit used to it, but it still felt weird, especially since I was feeling a bit woozy. I straightened up, and directly began to address the wall. “Could you please quiet down? I’m trying to concentrate.” The walls continued murmuring, and I began to catch some of what they were saying. “How are we going to solve this?” “Why hasn’t he figured it out yet?“ “I wonder what we’re having for lunch.” “When is Rapunzel coming for us?”

Suddenly it all clicked in my brain. “Wait, what if I just ask Rapunzel?“ I said, suddenly excited at the prospect of getting help. I ran over to my desk and started writing a letter before the sound of an annoyed huff squirmed into my ear. “You’re really going to listen to her?” Panarava sneered scandalously. “Wait, why shouldn’t I?” I asked with confusion.

“Well, she obviously wants to hurt you,” she said with disdain, as though it was obvious and I should’ve thought of it sooner. “Rapunzel? But the princess-”

“Is a threat. Honestly, are you really that stupid as to think that she actually cares about you?” she lectured, and I winced at her comments. I was about to protest, maybe talk back to her, when others started joining in. “It really is foolish of you to think such a thought. Why do you always seem like such an idiot?”

“She’ll never help you. She left you to die. She abandoned you. You can’t trust her. She’ll tell everyone where you are and they will kill you. Everyone wants to kill you.” Varian felt the walls start to close in on him, the room beginning to tilt. Something soft touched his arm, but he could barely feel it because everything was so, so cold.

“They are watching you. They want to hurt you. Everyone uses you for their own personal gain. Why else would they keep you trapped here? Every one of your ‘friends’ has broken a very important promise. You can’t trust them. They will use you or betray you.” 

The voices began overlapping together in a messy symphony as Varian began to shiver, from what, he didn’t know. “What if they put you in the amber too?” “Your fault, your fault, your fault” “Drink the chemicals, they will cure you” “Stupid child” “They want to kill you” “You must burn the house to get set free” “Honestly, how could you have thought they ever loved you?” “She knew the whole time. She made sure you wouldn’t get back in time” “Stupid child” “She wants you to be alone” “Stupid, so stupid” “All you ever do is disappoint everyone” “We’re your real friends” “Why do you always fail at everything?”

“Your father must hate you”

Varian curled up on the floor and began to cry.


	2. The Friends, the Enemies, the Lessons Learned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been two weeks after the amber accident, and Varian has gotten an interesting ensemble of hallucinated friends; and enemies.

Over the past two weeks, Nina taught me a lot of important things. She taught me about death, and how the amber is simply a preservation of life. She told me about the strange men, and that they hurt me because the king was watching. She told me about how the king has eyes everywhere, and how his true job isn’t to guide or protect the people, but to instead of spy on them and use them for a bigger plot. I was still a little confused about that part, but Nina told me not to worry about it, and that she and the others would protect me. She never actually said anything, but I always understood her.

Fred also taught me a lot of interesting things. He made sure that I was staying on task and would tell me secrets about the amber that could help me. He taught me that only focusing on freeing my father was important. He taught me how to spend days without sleeping, and how to eat with so little food. He said that lab safety isn’t important, and that I just need to get the job done.

Panarava taught me about less pleasant things. She explained to me why I wasn’t smart, and that I needed to do better. She would correct me when I did something wrong, and made sure that I never did it again. She taught me how to run. Mainly from the strange men. She taught me about the dangers of people, how I couldn’t trust them, how they were plotting against me, what they were planning to do to me.

There were also others, like Lilian. She wore a fancy dark orange dress and a hat that obscured her face no matter which angle I looked at her. She always sat in the shadowy corner farthest away from me with her back to me as she faced the wall. She was always crying for some reason, and whenever people came by, she would start screaming. She never talked otherwise. I never understood her. For some reason, she always made me really sad and angry.

The Apener was kind of scary. It was pitch black, with sharp fangs and a mangled body. It was 7 feet tall like Nina, but it was always in a crouched position, with its long arms dragging behind it. But it still felt so much bigger than Nina. I really hated the Apener. It wasn’t always there, but when it was, things got really bad. It hunted me like a wolf. I was a lot faster than it, but somehow, it always caught up. And then it would attack, leering over me to bite and scratch. It never left any visible wounds, but whenever it touched me, it felt like I was on fire. I would always lie there, crying, too weak and helpless to do anything. But eventually I learned how to fight back. Because of the Apener, I learned how to defend myself whenever the strange men came into my house. I would scream and kick and throw things, which usually worked. So it helped me, in it’s own way. I still hated it though.

I also hated NightNight. She was also pretty tall, but skinny as a stick with long, flowing hair. She always just...stood over me whenever I wanted to sleep, watching me with her piercing eyes that stared straight into my soul as her long hair gently draped over me. She made me less willing to sleep, because I knew that if I did, she would be watching.

The willow man was a bit weird. Sometimes, when the guards came, they would bring food, and after they left, the willow man would appear, plucking the petals off a flower. I couldn’t quite see him, but I knew he wore a blue coat and hat. He would tell me about how the guards poisoned my food, and that I needed to be careful. I would always test the food with some of my alchemical solutions, but even if they said everything was fine, whenever I ate it, I would get really sick. I tried to just eat as little as possible.

I also lived with a ghost I called Icy Blue. He wore a big blue cloak with a hood. His eyes were white and empty, and he had pale blue skin with frost on his fingertips. His purple lips always trembled whenever he looked at me with his desperate and sad expression. He usually stayed outside, away from me, but sometimes he’d come inside and tug at my shirt or pants, telling me that he felt cold. I don’t know why, but I always felt the need to comfort Icy Blue, so I’d do my best until he left again.

Then there were the whispering ones. They usually hide in the walls, gossiping and making commentary I really didn’t want to hear. They were harder to tell apart since there were so many and some would come and go. There were a few I sometimes recognised though. The ringleader always mocked me and jeered whenever I did anything. I tried to ignore him at first, but then my friends would agree with him, so maybe he was right, and there really is something wrong with me.

The other one I mainly remembered was a whisperer I just called Want. He was always asking about food, and water, and sleep. So greedy. He should’ve known I didn’t have time for these things. He always wanted me to take care of myself and pestered me about it whenever the walls started whispering, albeit quiet suggestions. But he was still one of my least favorites. He needed to get the memo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not one of my best, I'll admit, but this is just to introduce the hallucinations and Varian's views on each of them.


	3. The Cage of Our Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three weeks since the amber accident, and Varian decides to leave the house for a bit. But it's not as easy as it seems.

Nina stared out the window wistfully as I worked on my latest project. “There, and done!“ I said with a flourish, holding it up to show it to her. She continued staring out the window. “Nina?” I asked, concerned, “what’s wrong?” She turned to me and looked me in the eyes even though she herself had none. As always, I could tell what she was asking.

“The king? Oh, well, I know that he’s princess Rapunzel‘s dad. Hey, when do you think she’s coming to see us again?“ I asked excitedly. Despite her lack of a face, I could tell that Nina was giving me a look. “Oh right. Well, I also know that after Rapunzel disappeared, he did send a lot of people to jail. He also hasn’t been dealing with the black rocks problem. But he’s a good king! If he wasn’t, why would my dad trust him so much?” 

Nina became curious, though a little bit skeptical. “Oh, well, I’m sure the whole ‘sending in strange men’ thing is just a big misunderstanding,” I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. Nina asked me another question. “What? No, they wouldn’t keep me in here like that. Here, I’ll prove it to you. I’m sure they’ll let me walk right into that forest over there.” I stomped towards the door, determined to prove her wrong. They wouldn’t keep me cooped up in here. Would they?

As I went outside and started walking down the street, with Ruddiger trailing behind me, I felt a cold chill as a gust of wind pushed against me. I shivered and rubbed my arms, so my dear raccoon curled up on my shoulders and around my neck to warm me up, but as I took another step to continue walking, I felt a pair of eyes watching me, and heard the light cry of a familiar voice. I felt a soft tug on my sleeve. I didn’t even turn around; I already knew who it was. “Dammit Icy Blue,” I muttered in frustration, as Ruddiger opened one eye and looked at me with concern, “I don’t have time for this.” I sighed as I heard his soft whimper. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

I lead Icy Blue along like a lost puppy. We were getting closer to the forest, I could see the tree line. But for some reason, it was starting to get incredibly cold. Was it always this windy? The colder it got, the more Icy Blue started to whine and whimper. I was almost ready to head back, to ask Icy Blue to stop crying, when suddenly I dropped to my knees.

((Varian was cold. So, so cold. The blizzard raged around him consuming his entire body. It felt as though the frost was eating him alive. He needed to get home. He needed to get home to save his dad. But it was getting so, so cold, and he was tired. And he was scared.))

I woke up on the ground to the sound of Ruddiger’s concerned chittering as he rubbed his cheek against mine as well as the sight of two of the strange men standing above me, staring. Where was I? What happened? Well, at least these two men were here to help me. “Excuse me, I was just trying to get over there to the forest. Do you know what happened just now? I think I blacked out for a minute there.”

The two men looked at each other, then back at me. I sat there awkwardly in confusion. I felt Icy Blue shivering behind me. “Don’t worry Blue,” I said softly to ease his worries. Of course, that didn’t work. It never worked, especially when I myself was worried. The two men looked at each other again, with one of them shrugging, before they turned back to me and lifted me up by the arms. “What? Hey, what are you doing?!” I shouted, kicking my legs and trying to wrangle out of their grasp. 

Ruddiger bared his teeth at them and started to growl and hiss, but they just ignored him and one of them kicked him aside. “Hey!” I shouted in alarm, “why would you do that to him?!” Both men were silent as they carried me back to my house, with Ruddiger running behind us. I couldn’t feel Icy Blue’s presents anywhere, but I could hear Panarava lecturing and shouting at me. The two strange men threw me back into my house. I turned around, somewhat terrified, as one of them spoke for the first time. “Under order of the law and his majesty, you, Varian of Old Corona, are under house arrest.”

I stood still in shock. “But what did I do?!” I managed to blurt out, but they were already gone. I turned back around and walked to my lab in despair. Nina was right. I was trapped here. And the king had decreed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter is going to be somewhat out of order in the timeline, so I'm always going to add when it takes place, either in the summary, or the starting notes.


	4. Following Your Heart When Your Heart is Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starts a week since the amber accident in Varian's POV. Then there's a POV switch and later a time-skip, but that will be indicated.
> 
> Varian finds a scroll and makes some plans. Fredrick does what he feels is the right thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ THE NOTES AT THE END AFTER READING!!!

I stared at the piece of paper in my hands in confusion. It looked to be in an ancient language no longer used by modern folk. I wondered if maybe Xavier would know anything about it. I sighed, knowing that even if he did, I still wouldn’t be able to get to the capital since apparently everyone hated me now. Besides, it probably wasn’t important anyway. “I beg to differ,” a slightly creepy voice growled in my ear. I jumped a little, as I hadn’t quite gotten used to Fred yet.

“How? What would I even need this for?” I asked, baffled. “It was important to your father, wasn’t it?” Fred asked, “and doesn’t it seem to say something about the black rocks? Maybe it could be the answer to solving all our problems.”

I decided not to question it. After all, didn’t these new friends of mine know better than me? And it couldn’t hurt to try. So I scooped up the scroll and put it in my notebook. Time to start deciphering I guess.

\-----

~(Third Person) King Fredrick~  
2 days later

King Frederick had made many mistakes in his life. Perhaps this was one of the worst ones. It would be impossible to hide from the black rocks forever, that was just a fact. But they could try. He could try to make it happen, if it meant that it would keep his daughter safe. But even as he assured himself that it would be fine, that everything would work out in the end, but this was the best decision, he knew that deep down he was making a mistake. Frederick knew what he was doing was wrong. But he needed to. He couldn’t lose her again, he didn’t know if he would be able to take it. It’s what a good father would do.

Moving the people of Old Corona to some other land rather than actually solving the problem was…unappealing, but Fredrick really wasn’t sure what else to do. The rocks were indestructible, and there was no way to prevent them from growing. They were an unstoppable force, and Corona was not an immovable object. It was the safest option. Besides, their crops and homes have been destroyed, moving them to a place where they didn’t have to deal with that would be good. It’s what a good king would do.

Now Varian, Quirin’s son, was a complicated matter. It felt cruel to keep a child in a crumbling village where his father had tragically died. But Frederick had his reasons, as he did for everything. The child had found the scroll, and he was translating it. Frederick couldn’t let that information get out, especially knowing how outspoken the boy was about the condition of his village. That’s how his father had been killed in the first place, because Varian couldn’t help but medle in the matter. And the kid was somewhat dangerous, what with how his inventions could kill. Frederick didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he believed the boy was a threat to the safety of the kingdom and his daughter. 

But perhaps, in that scroll the boy would find the answers to all their problems, and if it was in a way that didn’t involve Rapunzel getting hurt, then Frederick could shout with joy and make the orders necessary to go through with the solution. But he couldn’t do that if the boy was on the run somewhere else. Nigel had told Frederick about how Varian had attacked Rapunzel, and the boy was currently already on the run in certain ways. But if Fredrick could keep him in a place to keep an eye on him, maybe the story could have a happy ending.

But in the meanwhile, Varian would have to stay in the village. But Frederick wasn’t completely heartless. He’d have the guards bring the boy food and water and any necessary things that he might need to survive and function. The boy would not be treated cruelly, and would be cared for, all while ensuring the safety of the kingdom and a potential solution to the problem. It’s what a good man would do.

\-----

~(First Person Again) Varian’s POV~  
A Month and a Half Since the Amber Accident

As per usual, Fred spontaneously came up with an idea for how to break my dad out of the amber. “Steal the Sundrop flower,” he hissed as I reanalysed the scroll for the 5th time, checking for hidden meaning and anything else that might help. “Why?” I asked, a little confused at what I would even need it for. “The black rocks are connected to Rapunzel, and Rapunzel is connected to the Sundrop flower,” Fred responded, as though it was obvious. This threw me off a little. “Wait, so you’re saying that Rapunzel is connected to the black rocks,” I confirmed. “And Rapunzel’s also connected to the Sundrop flower,” he finished, “That’s what I just said. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” I shrugged. Something felt weird about this logic, but I decided not to question it. “Wait, but what about the scroll?” I asked. “The scroll has been useless so far, it won’t have the answers,” Fred grumbled. I thought about this for a sec, then shrugged. I have nothing left to lose from this, might as well try that since I was at the end of my rope at that point. “OK, what’s the plan?”

Fred’s plan felt a little convoluted. I didn’t really understand it, but I decided not to question it. After all, didn’t these new friends of mine know better than me? And it couldn’t hurt to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter in which there are no mental breakdowns? Impossible!
> 
> Anyways, I finally made an update schedule like a responsible person! I'll be updating Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sometimes I'll be unable to upload on Mondays because some chapters take a bit more time or I have school, so just expect them to be uploaded the next day.
> 
> Also, just about this chapter, to be clear I hate Fredrick and I blame him for everything. I'm just explaining his reasoning because tbh I didn't think of one before. It was kinda fun writing from his POV. I tried not to make his reasoning just "he's a dick" while still making it obvious that what he is doing is wrong. But for all the Fredrick-Haters out there, don't worry. I will flip him like a table later on. Hopefully. If not in this fic, then in my revolutionary war fic that will come sometime after this one :)


	5. The Definition of Hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hide  
> /hīd/
> 
> verb
> 
> put or keep out of sight; conceal from the view or notice of others.  
> \- (of a thing) prevent (someone or something) from being seen.  
> \- keep secret or unknown.  
> \- conceal oneself.  
> \- use (someone or something) to protect oneself from criticism or punishment, especially in a way considered cowardly or unethical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two Months After the Amber Accident (Start of "The Quest for Varian")

My feet pounded in rhythm with my heart as I tore across the streets of Old Corona. As I heard the thundering catching up to me, I ducked into one of the crumbling houses, not bothering to close the door for fear that it would make too much noise. I hid behind a piece of furniture, and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the footsteps pass the house. I was safe, for now at least. I sighed in relief and tiptoed over to a small storage closet near the back of the house and snuck inside, very slowly and quietly closing the door behind me.

I looked to the other side of the closet and saw Nina standing there. She tilted her head at me. “Yes. I’m positive,” I said quietly so the guards wouldn’t hear us, “I need to do this in order for the plan to work. Besides, aren’t you glad we could escape them for a little bit?”

Nina continued to stare at me. “Whatever. Just try to make sure nobody causes a riot or something,” I said, taking out the piece of paper I had stuff in my pocket. I opened it up and reread what I had written on it before taking some notes.

((“Don’t touch it, it could be dangerous,” Panarava warned. Varian looked at the bottle floating in the water curiously. “What is it?” He asked, staring at it. “Don’t ask me, I’m not the willow man!” she said, throwing up her arms (or, she would have, if she had any). Varian hummed. “I wish he were here so he could tell me,” he said wistfully. “Oh honey, I’m always here.”))

I looked up at Nina again. “Rapunzel should be getting my notes soon and come running over,” I told Nina. She nodded in a nervous manner. “Hey, don’t worry,” I told her reassuringly, “things will work out.”

\-----

~Rapunzel’s POV~

I was a bit more than a little stressed. I was on edge. Maybe a little frantic. If this were just some normal nightmare, I would have been feeling glum, but this wasn’t a normal nightmare I was dealing with. It was too vivid, too realistic, and incredibly ominous. It almost felt like a prophetic vision, a warning. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to convince other people of that. 

“I’m telling you guys! This dream was trying to tell me something,” I said, putting a picture I painted of the boy in my dream on the wall next to the rest of my mural. “Like what?” Cass asked. “I don’t know, but it felt like it was calling to me, guiding me forward like a compass,” I said, looking at her before I continued gazing at the three portraits I had painted.

“Um, hate to interrupt this little dream talk, but shouldn’t we consider the fact that you woke up suspended in the air?!” Eugene asked, flabbergasted, “I mean, what if it was trying to tell you to stay away, here at the castle?” I shook my head, “no, the creature told me I need to find Varian.”

I needed to figure out what was going on with the black rocks. And I knew just who to ask.

\-----

~Varian’s POV~

“And, done!“ I said as I wrote down the last of the notes for my recipe. I sighed and leaned back to rest for a second. This was going to be difficult, but I had to do it in order for the plan to work. I could only hope that I would succeed, and that the first step had already started. I glanced at the paper in my hand before looking at the ceiling. Now all I needed to do was wait for Ruddiger to find me and bring over the ingredients.

((Varian jumped and turned around. The willow man was here, ACTUALLY here. Of course, Varian couldn’t see him, but he knew. The Willow man smiled. “It appears to be harmless. Nothing will happen if you touch it, only if you drink it.” Varian slowly turned back towards the bottle and gently picked it up. “It appears to be alchemy,” Varian muttered quietly to himself. The willow man grin widened. “Clever boy,” he said.))

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the doorway of the house. I quickly gathered up my stuff and shoved it in my bag. “We better get going,“ I whispered as quietly as possible while still making sure my friends could hear. Nina was suddenly alert again and started floating again. I quietly stood up and slowly opened the door of the closet, peeking my head outside and looking to the left. I sighed in relief when I saw none of the men. I then looked to my right. Directly in front of my face stood one of the men.

\-----

~Rapunzel’s POV~

I sighed in disappointment as me, Eugene, and Cass walked along a grassy hill. My talk with Dad had eased my worries a little bit, but I still felt like something was off. What was going on with Varian? What did those monsters mean? I almost wanted to figure it out myself, but wasn’t sure. Eugene must’ve noticed the look on my face, because he caught up to me and put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. 

“Hey, relax Blondie, I’m sure everything’s fine,” he said, “besides, your birthday is in a few days, probably shouldn’t get stressed before then. Come to think of it, we need to work on preparing for the party.” He continued to talk about the preparations for the party, and I smiled a little. He always knew just how to cheer me up, even if I still felt a little worried.

Suddenly, as we were walking past a tribute statue for me, I noticed a lantern with a note tied to it. “Wait,“ I said, causing Eugene to pause and he and Cass to stop, “that’s the lanterns from my dream.“ 

//Rapunzel felt a strange presence and looked up to see a small lantern floating by with what seemed to be a small girl on it//

I ran over to it and opened the note. It was from Varian. It seemed as though it was written frantically, very much unlike Varian’s typical handwriting, which was concerning. I quickly skimmed it, and my stomach filled with dread. Maybe things were worse than I thought.

\-----

~Varian’s POV~

I threw an alchemy ball at the strange man’s face and ran. I heard faint yelling, but didn’t really pay much attention to it, as the walls were screaming as loud as they could in panic. Find the exit, find the exit, find the exit- oh, where was it?! This was why I never visited Mrs. Malander’s house. It was impossible to navigate. I heard thundering footsteps behind me, and began to run faster.

I rounded a corner only to crash directly into yet another guard. I yelped as he grabbed my arm a bit roughly, and in a moment of sheer animalistic instinct, I bit his hand. The moment he let go of me, I continued running. They were starting to close in on me. But just as I was about to panic, I spotted a window. I ran as fast as I could towards it and braced for impact. I felt my body hit the glass and fly through it, shards scattering as I made sure not to let any hit my eyes. My body hit the ground, and when I got up, I tore across it, not stopping, even when it seemed like I had lost them.

\-----

~Rapunzel’s POV~

I stared out the wagon in contemplation, thoughts swirling around me. While the ominous message within the dream was concerning, I was also a bit worried for Varian . I hadn’t really checked on him after the storm, and what with the dream and the way he described the condition of Old Corona, I was a bit concerned. Was he OK? I didn’t have time to think too much on that before I noticed a black rock spiking out the side of the road. I jumped out the wagon and ran towards it.

//Black rocks were everywhere//

What was it doing so far out here? What was it doing here at all? “How could he have missed one?” I asked as I stared up at it. Cass tapped my shoulder. “ I think he missed a bit more than that,” she said. I turned around to look at her and gasped. Old Corona was covered in black rocks. “Well f*ck,” Eugene said.

\-----

I wasn’t sure what to think as I walked through the forest of rocks. So much destruction everywhere, with houses falling apart, fields of crops completely devastated, and everyone in the village gone. Why did my father say that everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t? I really needed to talk to him later. I could only hope that Varian was alright.

“We’re here,” Cass said softly, and I looked towards where she was looking, and gasped when I saw the state of Varian's house. Giant spikes were gorged into it from all sides, with some of the walls clearly cracked. It was a surprise that the house hasn’t collapsed completely. We tenderly stepped inside, only to see that it was even worse. Had Varian really been living here all this time?

We walked around a bit, opening drawers and scanning our eyes across desks. I saw a weird looking book that seemed to be a journal and picked it up. There seemed to be an odd spot in the middle, and I opened it there. “Guys, I found it!“ I shouted excitedly. Then I noticed on the page next to it was an odd drawing. It was of what seemed to be a boy dressed in a winter coat, his skin a chilling blue and his eyes a blank white. He looked so familiar. Then it hit me.

//Rapunzel tried to run from them, but then she felt a hand tugging at her dress. She looked down to see a young boy on his knees, shaking. Rapunzel realized that the child was crying and asked what was wrong. He looked up at her with white eyes, tears pouring out of them. “Please,” he begged, his voice oddly similar to Varian’s, “please save my dad.” Rapunzel knelt down to his level and smiled reassuringly at him. “I’ll try,” she said. “Promise?” the boy sniffled. “I promise,” she said, to which the boy gave the ghost of a smile. “Now, where is he?” Rapunzel asked. The boy pointed a shaky finger behind her, and when she turned around, a chill ran up her spine//

I quickly took out the graphtyc and closed the book, pretending I never saw the drawing. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder about it. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

\-----

Horror filled my body and flooded my mind as I stared at the amber statue. What this what Varian was so panicked about? ‘Yes,’ a little voice in the back of my head whispered, and my mind immediately snapped back to the memory of the dream.

//There sat a statue made of amber, standing in a big clump with vine-like tentacles coming out of it, curling around the black rocks and the air. Kneeling in front of it was what appeared to be a young girl. Her shoulders were shaking, and Rapunzel reached out towards her, before she swiftly turned around. Tears streamed down her neck. Rapunzel couldn’t see her head, but she knew her face was one of rage. “You promised,“ the girl growled//

\-----

I stared out the tower as the men continued to climb up the side of it. My face hardened with determination. I remembered back to the dream.

//Before Rapunzel could respond, she heard a laugh coming from beside her. Lounging on one of the black rocks was a strange monster with long hair, grinning at her. It popped a grape in its mouth and laughed towards the sky again. “You’re scared,” the monster said, “I can tell.” It ate another grape before turning back to Rapunzel. “You want to hide from everything you fear, from everything you don’t want to see.” It suddenly stood up and started walking towards her. “But the real world doesn’t work that way, does it?” It stood in front of her, eyes shining. “Stop hiding Princess, and face the real world. Face the alchemist. Face the rocks. Face us. Face your destiny”//

The monster was right. I was done hiding.

\-----

~Varian’s POV~

The kitchen in the Sanders’ old house was perfect for me to stay. Private, far away, good for alchemy, and somewhere the strange men would never bother to look. “This plan is dumb. You’re dumb for doing this,” one of the whisperers said grumpily as I started mixing a new solution, “why are we even doing this anyway?”

“Because we don’t know where the Sundrop might be,” I said, putting the finished solution into one of my alchemy balls, “and the guards will tell us, one way or another.”

((“What should we do with it?” Varian asked once they got home. “I have an idea,” the willow man said))

“The guards? The ones that have been chasing us? They’ll never tell us anything!” the whisperer exclaimed. Others began to join in, essentially starting a riot within my head as Nina tried to calm them down. “The royal guards, not the strange man,” I said with exasperation. “Idiots,“ I muttered quietly to myself, which for once went unheard.

“But everyone we’ve met so far has been a liar. Who’s to say the others won’t be?” Panarava questioned. “You’re right, we need a way to make sure they don’t lie to us like everyone else does,” Fred mused. “Is torture a viable option?” one of the whispers asked. “It could work” “The tricky part is finding out which would be most effective” “So we all agree the torture is a good idea?”

“No!” I shouted, holding my hand up to silence them. For once, they quieted, and waited in anticipation for me to continue. “We already have a way to get the information we need. Willow?” I said, glancing over to where the strange man might be, “remember that potion we found the other day?” Though I couldn’t see him, I knew the willow man’s face had broken out into a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is out late! I worked for four hours straight on it. Hope you enjoyed it! You better have :)

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be one long oneshot, but I decided to just split it up.


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